Wine pourer and resealer

ABSTRACT

A wine pourer and resealer comprising a housing adapted to be secured to the neck of a wine bottle. The housing has a neck portion for pouring wine and a cap for airtight closing of the neck portion. A vent adapted to extend into a bottle neck is integrally secured to the housing wall. Means for airtight closing of the neck portion and the air vent are provided.

United States Patent 1 Kearney [111 3,750,915 Aug. 7, 1 973 WINE POURERAND RESEALER [22] Filed: July 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 163,802

[52] US. Cl. 222/567, 222/484 [51] Int. Cl B65d 5/74, B67d 3/00 [58]Field of Search 222/567, 568, 479, 222/484, 546

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,117,701 1/1964 Stull222/479 X 3,235,133 2/1966 Zimmerman et a1. 222/567 973,616 10/1910 Beck222/479 442,696 12/1890 Thompson 222/567 X 1,237,773 8/1917 Gamble222/568 X 2,639,839 5/1953 Sok01ik 222/4'79 2,642,207 6/1953 Renzi222/567 X 2,753,090 7/1956 Fay 222/479 2,779,517 1/1957 Beall 222/567 UX3,386,626 6/1968 Kearney.... 222/147 3,630,419 12/1971 Pierce 222/567 XFOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATlONS 1,085,502 2/1955 France 222/479 419,8876/1924 Germany 222/479 1,037,388 7/1966 Great Britain 222/479 112,18211/1967 Norway 222/568 Primary Examiner-Robert S. Ward, Jr.Attorney-Jacob L. Kollin [57] ABSTRACT A wine pourer and resealercomprising a housing adapted to be secured to the neck of a wine bottle.The housing has a neck portion for pouring wine and a cap for airtightclosing of the neck portion. A vent adapted to extend into a bottle neckis integrally secured to the housing wall. Means for airtight closing ofthe neck portion and the air vent are provided.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures mm mm INVENTOR. KEARNZ-Y FIG. 3

LEWAW ATTORNEY WINE POURER AND RESEALER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONTheinvention relates to an improved wine pourer and resealer.

It is well known in the wine trade that when the original screw-on capis removed from a jar or bottle for the first time and a portion of thewine is removed and the screw-on cap is replaced, much difficulty isexperienced in removing the cap the second and subsequent times. Thisproblem is caused by sugar or syrup deposits on the threads of the cap,on the neck of the bottle or jar and when the original cap is replacedthis sugar or syrup deposit has the effect of an adhesive and causes aseal to form.

In the case of old people living alone, a hammer or some other hardobject to break this seal has to be used. It is quite common for the jaror bottle to break and in such cases the tablecloth, carpets, rugs andfloor are covered with this sticky, messy substance that is very hard toremove. To wine consumers this has always been a hazard, since topurchase wine economically one must purchase two or one gallon jars orflasks. These large jars or flasks cause the above trouble.

It is also well known in the wine trade and to consumers that, unlikealcohol or hard liquor of any kind, the air tends to interfere with theflavor, body and aroma of wine if left exposed to air for over minutes.most wine drinkers attempt to replace the cap as soon as possible.Heretofore pourers having an open air vent have been used. Such pourersare not air-sealed and the airvent is always open. To be left overnightexposed to the air in such fashion, completely ruins a bottle of wine,as it will go dead and sour and in cases of dark or fortified wines orsherrys these become cloudy. To use a wine trade expression, they becomesick. The pourer and resealer l have invented completely eliminatesthese two major problems of air entering the jar or bottle through thespout of the pourer, or most important of all, through the air vent.This has been made possible by placing an air-seal button in the outsideentrance of the air-shaft and by placing a sealing cap over the spout ofthe pourer.

The air vent itself is new and original both in construction and design.The entrance to the shaft at the shoulder or neck of the pourer on theoutside is quite large and remains so for about three-quarters of thelength of the shaft and is tapered to about a quarter of the diameter atthe outside entrance. There are several reasons for this: Firstly, sincethe spout on the pourer is quite large to enable a consumer or server topour fast, it is necessary to replace the vacuum created in the bottleor jar with an instant and correct amount of air, otherwise it will notpour. Secondly, air is already in the top end of the vent and isfunnelled instantly into the vacuum, when used for the first time andthe entrance to the air vent at its bottom portion is small, to preventthe wine entering it when pouring and thus causing air bubles whichwould impair speedy pouring. Finally, after first or second use, andwith the air vent closed, after a period of a few hours, the dead air inthe vent changes to wine fumes and on sudden release into the bottlewill not act like fresh air on the wine.

When using my pourer-resealer, conwumers or servers will be able to pourdesired amounts with speed and precision, eliminating spillage, drippingand overflowing of glasses.

These and other advantages and objects of the invention will becomeapparent from the following description and the accompanying drawingillustrating embodiments of my invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the wine pourer, shown secured to theneck of a wine bottle;

FIG. 2 is a view of the wine poulrer shown in operating position;

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the wine pourer;

FIG. 4 is a section takenon line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and FIG. 5 is a partialcross-section of a modified form of the pourer.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the device shown .in FIG. 1comprises a pourer housing 8, a cap 10, formed with securing strip 11,having a longitudinal slot 13, through which extends a stud 11',integral with the pourer 8, provided with an enlarged head 12. The cap10 is also provided with a tab 18, by means of which it may be detachedfrom the: lip 9 of neck 15 and slid out of the path of the wine to bepoured.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-4, it will be noted that the pourer 8 isprovided with an air shaft 7 formed by a wall 25 of areuatecross-section and the wall of the pourer 8 proper. Theair shaftterminates as a tubular portion 22 spaced from the pourer wall, to allowthe pourer to fit over the neck of a bottle 26. The air shaft tubularportion 22 has a small opening 23 which permits air to enter a winebottle while the wine is poured, thus ,preventing the formation of avacuum in the bottle, which would retardthe flow of wine therefrom. Atthe same time the flow of wine through the shaft 7, which would clog itis prevented by the small opening 23.

The wine pourer cap 8 is formed with threads 30 adapted to engage withthreads 32 of a wine bottle 26 (partially shown) with a handle 28. Thecap 8 is further provided with a ringshaped sealing gasket 24.

A modified form of the invention is shown in partial view in FIG. 5. Itsconstruction is similar to that shown in FIGS. 1-4 and similar parts areindicated by similar numerals, except for the modifications. It will benoted that a tubular shaft 34 extends with its open end 36 through thewall 8' of the. wine pourer cap.

To prevent a spoilage of wine or other beverage, by air which wouldenter the bottle through the vent opening 36, there is provided a plug38 of resilient material integrally secured to the slidable strip 39.The plug 38 is inserted into the shaft opening 366 when the bottle isnot in use. The plug 38 is secured integrally to one end of a flat stripformed with a slit l3 slidable along a knob 12' secured to the winepourers neck. The cap 10 is secured to the other end of the strip. Bysliding the strip forward, after detaching the cap from the neck of thewine pourer, the plug 38 is removed from the vent opening 36, to permitair to enter while the wine is poured.

I claim:

1. A wine pourer and resealer comprising, in combination, a pourerhousing having an open neck portion and an open base portion adapted forsecuring to a neck of a liquid container, vent means in said housing andmeans for airtight closing said vent means, said vent means being an airshaft having a lower end portion adapt to extend into a container neckfor allowing the entrance of air into a container, said air shaft beinga tube integral with the said neck part, said tube having an open upperend extending through said neck portion, said means for airtight closingbeing a plug of resilient material adapted to be inserted into said openupper end, a stud secured to said open neck portion, a strip formed witha slit, slidable along said stud, a cap for closing the open neckportion, said cap and said plug being secured to the respective ends ofsaid strip. t I.

1. A wine pourer and resealer comprising, in combination, a pourerhousing having an open neck portion and an open base portion adapted forsecuring to a neck of a liquid container, vent means in said housing andmeans for airtight closing said vent means, said vent means being an airshaft having a lower end portion adapt to extend into a container neckfor allowing the entrance of air into a container, said air shaft beinga tube integral with the said neck paRt, said tube having an open upperend extending through said neck portion, said means for airtight closingbeing a plug of resilient material adapted to be inserted into said openupper end, a stud secured to said open neck portion, a strip formed witha slit, slidable along said stud, a cap for closing the open neckportion, said cap and said plug being secured to the respective ends ofsaid strip.